Which Bar End Shifters?

[pickerd1]

Hello All,
I'm considering bar end shifters but don't know whether to go for Dura Ace SL-BS79 OR MicroShift BS-A10.

How do these compare?

I've played with the Dura Ace and found them a little stiff (no innuendo please). They were however very accurate and shifted the 105 RD very nicely. This was with good cables though! Does this make a massive difference?

The Dura Ace also worked nicely with the triple front mech and chainset. It was set-up such that the lever detent was in line with the middle chain ring. Is this the best way?

Are Microshift compatible with Shimano mechs?

Any thing else I should consider?

[OldBloke]

I have Microshift bar end shifters that match my 10 speed Shimano MTB cluster and long derailleur - BS-M10 I think. They work well to my mind. According to the Microshift website their road bar end shifters are compatible with Shimano road mechs.

If I'm wrong blame Tapatalk.

[531colin]

Hello All,
I'm considering bar end shifters but don't know whether to go for Dura Ace SL-BS79 OR MicroShift BS-A10.

How do these compare?

I've played with the Dura Ace and found them a little stiff (no innuendo please). They were however very accurate and shifted the 105 RD very nicely. This was with good cables though! Does this make a massive difference?

The Dura Ace also worked nicely with the triple front mech and chainset. It was set-up such that the lever detent was in line with the middle chain ring. Is this the best way?

Are Microshift compatible with Shimano mechs?

Any thing else I should consider?

There isn't a detent on the left lever, but it is possible to assemble it wrong so there is a "false detent" at the end of the ratchet. I have posted about this before, but a cursory search didn't bring it up. Hoiwever the pictures are in this album https://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/albums/72157624571269648/page2



the square on the alloy body has a tab at the bottom (but on the right here!) Which locates in the recess marked "2" in the matching part....this recess is deeper to fit the tab

[pwa]

Hello All,
I'm considering bar end shifters but don't know whether to go for Dura Ace SL-BS79 OR MicroShift BS-A10.

How do these compare?

I've played with the Dura Ace and found them a little stiff (no innuendo please). They were however very accurate and shifted the 105 RD very nicely. This was with good cables though! Does this make a massive difference?

The Dura Ace also worked nicely with the triple front mech and chainset. It was set-up such that the lever detent was in line with the middle chain ring. Is this the best way?

Are Microshift compatible with Shimano mechs?

Any thing else I should consider?

There isn't a detent on the left lever, but it is possible to assemble it wrong so there is a "false detent" at the end of the ratchet. I have posted about this before, but a cursory search didn't bring it up. Hoiwever the pictures are in this album https://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/albums/72157624571269648/page2

I'm glad you cleared that up, Colin, as I was beginning to wonder if Shimano now made them different. The lack of indexing with the front mech is one of the main attractions of bar end shifters.

[pickerd]

I see. It was rather large fir a detent. It worked quite well though.

[531colin]

I see. It was rather large fir a detent. It worked quite well though.

If it works as a detent, then fair enough. But the failure mode is that the bit of the travel that is then "off the end" of the ratchet doesn't have enough friction to oppose the spring in the front mech....this will vary with the mech. I expect.

[pwa]

I've only used the Dura Ace 9 speed bar ends. They are firm, but that is good. In practice I keep my thumb and index finger around the bar, and I move the lever with the base of my thumb or my three outer fingers. Effort is negligible. The levers last for several years of all weather use before eventually the indexing goes and I have to get replacements.

[webber]

i have microshift 10 speed road bar ends with 9 speed xt mech and it work flawlessly recommended

[tim_f]

I have 9 speed Dura ace on one bike and 9 speed Microshift on another.

The 'click action' as lever feels different, but one is not better than the other.

The amount of friction in the cables is more significant to the feel and ease of use.

[Brucey]

I see. It was rather large fir a detent. It worked quite well though.

I don't know about the current DA ones but I have had several sets of other Shimano thumbshifters and bar end shifters which did have a noticeable detent in the centre position of what was otherwise a normal friction shift on the left shifter. This is fairly useful provided you don't need to trim the front mech when you are in the middle ring; if you do then it can be difficult to make a very small adjustment away from the detent position.

IME the trimless middle ring setup is very often possible if you use an MTB chainset etc but when using 'road' stuff it is a little more hit and miss, and trimming is more often required.

cheers

[yostumpy]

I run old S/H Shimano 7/8 speed bar cons on both my bikes, both with 10 speed campag, but I only ever use friction anyway, so can run any rear wheel. Been like that for prob 3 years now, 18,000 km plus. Cant understand the need for indexing at all really, unless your a racer type.

[Samuel D]

I have often wondered whether 10 speeds were practical with friction shifting. So you say yes, yostumpy?

Not that I have a desire for 10 speeds, but I have a latent desire for friction shifting and have worried even my 8 speeds might be too many.

On bar-end shifters: are any of them convertible to down-tube shifters? (Or vice-versa.)

To me, down-tube shifters seem to offer some advantages over bar-end shifters: simpler, less weight, shorter cable run, no need for SIS cable housing, tidier handlebars, freer handlebar movement, easier handlebar taping, and more room for your knees. But I’d be happier to try down-tube shifters if I had the option of moving them to the bar-ends in case I don’t like them.

(I did use down-tube frictions shifters in my youth, but I paid no attention to the subtleties of their operation then.)

[Brucey]

IIRC most shimano bar-end shifters can be fitted to DT bosses OK.

As a compromise I think that (for a touring bike especially), mounting the gear levers under the stem (or tops) is a pretty good scheme; arguably the only time you need to make shifts promptly when touring is when you are climbing, and then the shifters are nicely to hand to allow this, provided you climb on the tops.

The rest of the time such shifters are little different (in convenience terms) vs DT or bar end shifters, but are of course tucked out of the way and won't get damaged easily. The cable runs are simple and very easily serviced.

cheers

[yostumpy]

Being a rather tall chap, I like bar end shifters because I know they aren't far from my hands at any given time, whereas dt shifters are a very long way down on a bigger framed bike, and depending on your particular manoeuvre can be quite an awkward stretch.

[fossala]

I much prefer downtube shifters, simplex if I have the choice.